Ryan Preece has yet to win a Cup Series race, but he continues to show why RFK Racing brought him into the fold. He has now doubled his previous career-best mark for top-10 finishes after crossing the line fifth at Iowa Speedway.
The Connecticut native overcame multiple issues at the track where he scored his first career Xfinity win, and he scored a fifth-place finish. This marked his second consecutive top-five finish and his third of the season. This also marked his 10th top-10 finish since moving to the No. 60 Ford Mustang.
Preece's best mark for top-10 finishes in a season was five last year with Stewart-Haas Racing.
The day ended with a top-five finish, but it started with some issues for the veteran driver. Preece started 33rd in the field, and he only worked his way to 30th by the end of stage 1. He then received a speeding penalty during the stage break due to an issue with his dashboard lights.
The second stage progressed better for Preece as he ran long during the green flag pit cycle. A caution set him up to pit from 14th place while other drivers took the wave around to get back on the lead lap. He ultimately finished the stage in ninth place and scored two points.
The final stage remained eventful for Preece, even as he put himself in position for a strong finish. For example, he barely avoided two cars spinning after a mistake by Briscoe while dealing with significant radio issues.
The bold move paid off for Preece. He put himself in contention for a top-five finish, and then he capped off the day by crossing the line two spots behind driver-owner Brad Keselowski.
P33 ➡️ P5
Maximized his day once again. pic.twitter.com/7IaHctwgTg
— RFK Racing (@RFKracing) August 3, 2025
This marked the second consecutive race that Keselowski and Preece finished inside the top five. This also marked the first time since the 2012 season that RFK Racing put two cars inside the top five in consecutive races.
"I am super proud of everyone at RFK for making solid adjustments," Preece said after the race. "We had a little bit of luck there when that caution came out and allowed us to take another shot at it. So, thanks for RFK. Thanks to Mohawk Northeast and everybody with this Ford Mustang.
"I thought if we had a bunch of restarts we were going to be okay because we were so, so good in that third lane. But it just seemed that long run, that last run, wasn't the best thing for us. On that restart when we were able to get to third, I thought we were going to have a shot at it.
"It seemed we could close in on the 19 (Chase Briscoe) and the 24 (William Byron) a little bit and then I just got loose. When Brad was catching me I thought 'what is the best thing to do for a teammate and for the company?' and wanted to give him the opportunity even if it was at a deficit for us."
Preece's career-best season continued with his 10th top-10 finish, but he left Iowa Speedway still below the playoff cutline. However, he moved much closer with his performance. He is now only 23 points behind teammate Chris Buescher, who holds the final playoff spot on points.